It's among the chairs, directors, and supervisors who manage conflict, mentor new hires, shape culture, and steer their departments through crisis after crisis—often without any formal training.
Most of these people spent decades becoming experts in their fields. They have become leaders by being good at...something else.
Leadership isn't a natural next step. It's a different job entirely.
It's in the middle.
It's among the chairs, directors, and supervisors who manage conflict, mentor new hires, shape culture, and steer their departments through crisis after crisis—often without any formal training.
Most of these people spent decades becoming experts in their fields. So they became leaders by being good at...something else.
Leadership isn't a natural next step. It's a different job entirely.
Skipping leadership preparation for those leading in the middle doesn't save you money. It just shifts the cost.
You'll pay in low morale and lost momentum. (Festering conflict, stalled initiatives, turnover.
You'll likely pay in actual cash. (Retention counter-offers, interim hires, pricey search firms.)
You'll certainly pay in broken trust. (Resentment, sabotaged projects, fractured shared governance.)
Decades of research show that lectures and PowerPoints are lousy teachers.
So instead of a typical workshop setting, 10 1/2 Lessons is like the best college classrooms, where each participant gets
✔️ Scaffolded learning
✔️ Practical application
✔️ Collaborative problem-solving
✔️ Personal relevance
Together we build foundational skills, experiment, and figure out what actually works.
Each lesson is anchored in a research-backed framework—and we don't stop there.
After the workshop, participants continue growing through community networks, custom tools, and optional coaching.
This is learning that sticks, long after the workshop ends.
This on-campus workshop helps your chairs, directors, and staff supervisors strengthen the skills they use every day: managing teams, navigating conflict, and keeping their departments on track.
This isn't a stepping-stone to a VIP role. It's just-in-time training for the job they're doing now.
And it opens the door to the ongoing support that will keep them leading with confidence.
The learning continues after the workshop ends as participants keep growing and stay connected through community, custom tools, and optional coaching.
This is how they embed their learning into their everyday leadership practice.
This on-campus workshop helps your chairs, directors, and staff supervisors strengthen the skills they use every day: managing teams, navigating conflict, and keeping their departments on track.
This isn't a stepping-stone to a VIP role. It's just-in-time training for the job they're doing now.
And it opens the door to the ongoing support that will keep them leading with confidence.
The learning continues after the workshop ends: participants keep growing and stay connected through community, custom tools, and optional coaching.
This is how they embed their learning into their everyday leadership practice.
At key moments, we apply the lessons in case studies written specifically for each cohort. These aren't generic scenarios; they're tailored to the real leadership challenges participants are facing. This brings the problems—and their solutions—to life.
Each lesson builds on what came before, creating a logical sequence.
The sequence has three tiers, shaping a simple framework for quickly thinking through—and addressing—leadership problems as they arise.
Every great leader has a toolkit for making their leadership feel cohesive & coherent.
So we teach that, too.
Participants learn a simple, repeatable skill— asking powerful questions—they can practice alone, with a trusted inner circle, and even with their teams. It’s the glue that makes all 10 lessons actually work in real leadership situations.
I'm known for leading my own teams to achieve what looks impossible. My secret? Building relationships so strong that folks can do really hard things together...and have fun doing it.
For more than 15 years I've been teaching leaders everything I know about building exceptional teams that love working together.
More than 300 participants at nearly 20 institutions have helped shape this workshop into its current design.
I can't wait to share it with you.
I'm known for leading my own teams to achieve what looks impossible. My secret? Building relationships so strong that folks can do really hard things together...and have fun doing it.
For more than 15 years I've been teaching leaders everything I know about building exceptional teams that love working together.
More than 300 participants at nearly 20 institutions have helped shape this workshop into its current design.
I can't wait to share it with you.
For nearly two decades, I served as an executive presbyter (which is the church-y version of executive director) and the entire time I worked in that capacity, I had a coach. My work with her made all the difference for me. It was so valuable to have someone with whom I could work out sticky situations, process challenges, and work through plans. If I needed to vent, she was there. If I needed to plan, she asked me great questions. Because of this experience I pursued coaching certification through the University of Wisconsin.
Now I coach pastors, non-profit executives, judicatory leaders, fundraising managers, yoga teachers, writers, and all sorts of others. In addition I have decades of non-profit leadership experience along with a background in human resources and organizational development.
In my nonwork life, I’m a runner, a gardener, a parent (to young adults), a partner, and a knitter. I read voraciously. I’m relentlessly curious. And, I believe it’s a big world, and there are lots of ways to live in it. (Ask me about this sometime - turns out it’s a hard thing to commit to 100% of the time.)
Leaders at any level.
This started as a program for new department chairs and quickly grew to include academic program directors. It has since been expanded to include anybody who leads a team, whether faculty or staff. This workshop benefits anybody leading people, no matter their functional area or level of experience.
Why? Because people are people no matter what work they do. Leading people is fairly universal.
We offer separate versions of the workshop for faculty leaders and other campus leaders. The content and framework is the same, but the case studies are customized to the folks in the room. It's one of the many ways this workshop is unqiue.
Hands down, this is best as a full two-day, immersive experience.
If you need mini-workshops spread over several weeks or months, we can do that too. The amount of time people spend in the training, and the price, will change.
The workshop is a mix of active conversation, reading and reflection, and individual planning. We will organize those activities to meet your schedule and deliver the workshop in a way your leaders will enjoy. Please note that "moving the workshop online" will not cost less, and engagement from participants will likley decrease over time.
We intentionally break the paradigm where inclusion is “extra” training.
Leading people is fundamentally about inclusion and psychological safety. Exceptional leaders value everyone on their team. We show them how.
As many as you like.
This workshop works incredibly well with large groups. It also can deepen connections for a small leadership team.
We've taught this to groups as small as a dozen and as large as 100+. For very large groups (significantly more than 100) the price will increase so that we can bring additional facilitators. Let's talk about whether this works for you.
We'll work with you to accommodate your needs.
Either!
This workshop is incredibly dynamic in person – you can feel the buzz in the room.
But we’re skilled with hybrid and hyflex learning, so if you’re looking for an online workshop, we’ll bring that to life.
Let's talk about how your team likes to learn and what's best for your institution.
Please note that the pricing advertised on this page is for an in-person workshop. A virtual or hybrid workshop will be priced differently, according to your needs.
For the academic year 2025-2026, we’ll train up to 100 of the leaders on your campus for a flat fee of $20,000, .
The fee excludes your internal costs (such as travel and hospitality for workshop attendees).
If you’re a smaller organization, you can partner with another group to increase the number of participants.
We’ll support you with registration processes so it’s easy for everyone to sign up.
(Pricing effective for the 2025-2026 academic year.)